SpiceJet shares soar 14% amid IndiGo's operational crisis
What's the story
SpiceJet shares have surged by a whopping 14% in today's trading session, hitting ₹35.50 per share on the BSE. The spike comes amid heavy trading volumes and despite a generally subdued market. By 9:47am the stock was still up by 12% at ₹34.87 against a marginal drop of just 0.26% in the BSE Sensex.
Volume surge
Trading volume doubles
The trading volume for SpiceJet shares has more than doubled, with 20.62 million equity shares changing hands on the BSE at the time of writing. This is a significant jump from the average of 7.4 million shares traded over the last two weeks, according to exchange data. The spike in trading activity comes as widespread delays and cancelations at rival InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo's parent company) push more passengers toward SpiceJet.
Expansion plans
SpiceJet to add 100 new flights
In response to the increased demand, SpiceJet has announced plans to add 100 new flights in the coming days. The airline's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said, "What happened is extremely unfortunate and has caused huge inconvenience to passengers." He added that they are trying to help by running these additional flights.
Financials
Financial performance and future outlook
Despite today's sharp rise, SpiceJet shares are still down 43% over the past year and remain close to their 52-week low of ₹28.13. The company's revenue fell by 23.1% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹828 crore while net loss widened to ₹634 crore, highlighting the challenges it continues to face despite IndiGo's operational crisis providing a temporary boost in demand.